The Duchess of Sussex has won a High Court bid to keep the identities of five of her friends secret.
These five friends gave an anonymous interview to a US magazine last year,
As part of the Duchess of Sussex’s legal battle against Associated Newspapers, the court had to decide whether the names of these five friends should be made public.
However, Mr Justice Warby has ruled that their identities will remain secret “for the time being.”
Associated Newspapers wanted the names of the friends who gave unattributed quotes to People magazine to be made public.
The friends were defending Meghan after the Duchess complained of critical coverage in the British media.
In his judgment, Mr Justice Warby admitted that this was an ‘unusual scenario’ which has seen “roles reversed” as the media are usually fighting to protect the anonymity of sources.
Meghan is suing Associated Papers over five articles which were published in February 2019. These stories, published in the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, reproduced parts of a letter she wrote to Thomas Markle shortly after her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018.
The publisher argues that the had no reasonable expectation of privacy and that she anticipated publication of the letter.
A number of preliminary hearings surrounding the case have already taken place. A date for the full trial has yet to be set.
